Lesson 1

We are the red sky at dawn, awakening to a new dayAfter you have viewed the painting and listened to the poem meditation and transitioned from the everyday to the spiritual mindset, we can start the lesson in a receptive mood.Observe the women; they are ready for a sequence of movements we shall study in great detailThis is lesson 1 basic movements/ planting the self in the EarthThese students, Loren on the right, Christina on the left, are here to awaken their inner energy, refine, realign, and adjust body and mind for any action.Hands pressed lightly together is the set position they will return to over and over again. It is relaxed yet purposeful as you can see in their facial expressions.No matter how many times this sequence of movements is done, each time is a new beginning.We learn by doing.Lower your hands to position 2: at your sides, in front, and cupped upward.Now you are directing your hands, but at the end of this lesson, the accomplishment will be that your hands will guide your body without mental attention. In position 3, hands are turned over and elbows are drawn back.From the rear view, notice how wide apart the feet are spread. Loren starts bent forward, her elbows tight. Christina is a step ahead of her.Your next move is to bring elbows up and straighten the back. Look at the women from the side. They are in perfect sync. The small of the back is arched--the butt pressed back--hands ready to move forward across a drawn in belly.Loren's knees are bent more than Christina's, which is proper before the hands turn over and come forward. As the hands move, the exaggerated arch of the spine diminishes enough to bring the butt even with the elbows. --Hands coming forward, therefore control the posture. In the next frame, elbows and hands have come forward. (we shall watch the turning of the hands in a moment.)As the hands are raised, the middle back creases--Because your shoulders are drawing the neck back even though the pelvic tilt remains forward. The advantage of this will become clearer.But let's take a frontal view… as the hands come forward the belly should be pushed out and allowed to drift downward/ as if hands pushed from within.The women are returning to the set position--this time in a totally changed mode due to the stretching of the back and rotating pelvis.Before joining hands, Christina extends her fingers.Loren is in the process of doing so. Note how the thumb extends away from the other fingers. This is a vigorous stretching out of the hand, one filled with the force of the stretched posture.During the finger extension, shoulders, which were back, round downward, pressing the chest down. Red arrows direct the action. The head does not tilt, and the chin is level and jutting forward.We are going to repeat the basic movement, starting from the rear point of view.Once we shift to the side view, the way the hands turn over is seen clearly.In real time, the belly protrudes to stabilize the set position. The center of the posture is in the belly.Copying the women with your mind begs the question: Can your hands alone dictate action. To answer repeatLesson 1 by bringing elbows back and turning hands over.SetDrop hands.Open hands with back archingTurn hands over, bring forward, straighten spinePush out hands and bellyPress down shouldersNow, have someone try to push you off balance.It cannot be done.